Monday stuff
All day I’ve been writing an epic blog post in my head, and now that I’m sitting here at the computer screen with a bit of time on my hands, I’m having performance anxiety. :P
~*~
This morning on the way to work, Rusty and I stopped at LottaFrutta. We drive by there every morning and always say we should go, and I’ve read nothing but good things about the place, so this morning we made a point to finally go. And it was awesome!! I’ve definitely found my new favorite place in Atlanta. I’m still thinking about the fruit cup with yogurt and granola I had this morning. There just aren’t many places where you can get really good, fresh fruit quickly and for a reasonable price – and certainly not at this quality! I chatted with the owner for a minute before we left, and she said that’s exactly why she opened the place – to fulfill what she was looking for and could only get all the way out on Buford Highway.
Before we went inside, when we got out of the car and were walking down the street, it just felt like one of those perfect moments. A beautiful day and I was with Rusty and everything was great. We watched some mockingbirds scuffle over a bite of food. Sometimes I think it would be great to live in that neighborhood, but I love our house and I know I can enjoy all the different parts of Atlanta without actually having to live there. But ever since the first time I went to Cabbagetown in 2005, I’ve just had a special feeling for that part of town. Of course, being with the person I love helps as well. And I think part of it is, some moments bring back a feeling from early 2005, when I hadn’t been in Atlanta long and was discovering lots of its treasures, but had been here long enough that I’d gotten past a lot of the rough stuff from 2004. I love it when I can recapture that feeling. I want to maximize those times and that feeling.
Back to Lottafrutta – in one corner, there was an “Energy Lemon” and I had to take a picture of it. The owner caught me in the act and was giving me a funny look, and I said, “I had to take a picture of your energy lemon.” She said, “That’s okay,” and I wondered if I’d committed a cultural faux pas. Probably not, but you never know.
~*~
Saturday was our housewarming party and it was a success. My mom was up for the weekend and had a good time. I’m still thinking about the delicious deviled eggs we made, and I think I’m going to make deviled eggs out of the 6 eggs leftover from the various cooking endeavors.
We definitely want to have people over fairly often – why not take advantage of our wonderful deck, back yard, and grill? But next time, people need to not leave the back door open! I get eaten up by mosquitoes enough as it is, even with mosquito repellent on and citranella candles and torches all around – I don’t need them inside the house, too! (And I don’t even want to talk about what would happen if a cockroach were to come inside. I would FLIP THE FUCK OUT, because that shit is NOT ON.) I will say, though, that even though they blatantly ripped off the WebMD logo, this BiteMD stuff does help after the fact.
At the party, Nikki pointed out that we have two pine trees in the back yard that are perfectly spaced to accommodate a hammock. As far as I’m concerned, this is going to become a top priority.
Sara’s Coca-Cola cupcakes were amazing, and she has posted the recipe on her blog.
My mom took a bunch of pictures and I still need to get them off my camera. I’m going to finally upgrade our DSL speed sometime this week after my most recent payment goes through, so after that, it shouldn’t be such an ordeal to upload pictures to Flickr. So, I don’t yet have pictures of the party to post, but I do have a picture of me with a weed that was taller than I am:
It grew in about 6 weeks in a corner of our back yard.
~*~
The woman who did the renovation on our house (I would say “the seller,” but since we bought it in January, that seems a little dated now) came to the party, and she was telling me all about what the house looked like when she bought it (mostly because I kept prodding her with questions). I find it fascinating. I asked if she would send me “before” pictures, and she was reluctant, saying that usually when people see the before pictures, they like their house less. I find that really bizarre. If anything, I would think it would make someone like their nice renovated house more. My mom told her I was used to it because I grew up w/ parents who renovated houses, so I saw the whole process. That seemed to make her feel better about it. I need to email her a reminder. Anyway, one of the things she said was that they built out the dining room onto what used to be part of the porch. (They did a fabulous job with the floor, because you cannot tell AT ALL where the original hardwoods end and the new hardwoods begin.) That would mean the original dining area was tiny! Barely enough room to fit any kind of table, much less one that would comfortably seat four people. She also said there was a door from the kitchen into the middle bedroom (what we made our bedroom). Trying to picture everything, it seems like this was a really weird house.
I’ll post the before pictures when I get them. For now, Google Maps shows a blurry version of the house in its pre-renovation state, and the porch does indeed wrap around:
I’m glad they got rid of that big stupid shrub in front of the living room window.
~*~
Speaking of things you can see on Google Maps…
Here’s the aerial view of where my birthday photo shoot took place:
Street names are cropped out since there seems to be some sort of urban explorers’ code of ethics in that regard, although if you really want to know where it is, it’s not exactly hard to find out.
You can track the path of a utility easement for as long as there are treetops to be cut away to accommodate its presence. I followed it for probably longer than I should admit.
And one of the places I followed it to was this, in Clayton County. What the hell is this?? It looks disgusting!
I can only assume (hope?) that it’s a sewage treatment plant or some other waste water facility?
Back in Dekalb, there’s what appears to be a giant dirt lot, right beside “Lake Charlotte,” which appears not to have any water. Or maybe the dirt lot is the former lake?
Shifting gears, Google Maps also has a (blurry, not so great) pictures of an early 1960s condo building that I love, and that I fear might not be long for this world, given all the development going on in that area. Here’s Brookwood Forrest:
One of the condos is for sale – $85,000 will get you a 2/1 in a prime location. Parquet flooring has never endeared itself to me, but I could deal…
Besides, look at those original features in the bathroom!!
I’m dying to see what the kitchen and bathrooms looked like in our house prior to the renovation.
Here’s another condo building I love, this one built in 1950 according to the MLS Listing where I got the following photos. This building is on 26th St., right behind the Mellow Mushroom where we used to play trivia. Every time we would go to trivia I’d see the place and think what a cool building it is.
If I were single and buying a place by myself, these are the kinds of places I would have given serious consideration.
I used to not much care for 50s and 60s architecture, but in the past several years it has grown on me. Sure, some of it is crap; but there’s also a lot of really neat stuff. I think my resentment toward the “urban renewal” from which many buildings of that era were borne colored my perception and made me not able to appreciate the unique features in those buildings. It’s not the buildings’ fault that they replaced something older and probably very cool in its own right. And it doesn’t mean we should continue the cycle of knocking it all down and starting over every ~30 years or so.
~*~
I’m going to wrap this up and keep this post relatively upbeat. This is only a smidgen of everything that’s been typing itself out in my head all day long. I don’t have the energy right now to write a screed about why I’m annoyed with pretty much everybody in my former feminist Blogdonia haunts, not to mention the bullshit happening on Tumblr right now. And I feel like I should save my post about my constant underlying fear of Something Very Bad Happening for another day. (The truth is, I’m scared to write it at all.)
Vignettes
I’m taking a sick day from work today, because I knew I would be spending two and a half hours at the dentist (but my ordeal is finally over!) and would probably want to sleep afterward. I’ll be doing that as soon as I finish eating my soft lunch. I feel requisitely guilty about missing work, but Rusty reminded me that I have a ton of sick days, so I shouldn’t feel too bad. And he’s right; I hardly ever use sick days. (When I got the flu in 2006, I was a contractor, so those days off were all unpaid.) Back in 2005 when Ryan was my boss, he forced me to take some days off to use up some sick days.
My dentist has a satellite radio station that plays 70s music. Usually it’s good, with occasional really bad exceptions. The last two times I’ve been there, I’ve heard the Allman Brothers’ “Ramblin’ Man.” Every time it gets to the line, “I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus / Rollin’ down Highway 41,” I can’t help but think, “Wow, what a mess that must’ve been.”
If I feel better today after my ibuprofen-induced nap, I might go to Ace Hardware or Lowe’s and get some flowers to put in containers on the deck. So far the begonias out front are doing good. Fortunately for me, the birds seem to like the window basket outside my office window. On Saturday a female house finch was hanging out in the basket, and this morning I spotted a mockingbird pulling out a piece of the fiber of the basket for nesting material.
On the deck, I’ve seen a baby cardinal being fed by its father. And in the big pine tree in the front yard, I’ve seen two baby chickadees, which are even cuter than adult chickadees.
Also, yesterday there was a cat orgy in the back yard. It was two cats having sex and another one watching, so really more like voyeurism. At one point the voyeur cat looked up and, I don’t know if he could see Rusty and I watching from inside the kitchen, but his expression seemed to say, “What are you looking at, sickos?” Then he went back to watching the other cats have sex. Rusty suggested I get my Kodak Zi6 camera and record it. “What an auspicious start to my video making,” I said, as I went to get my camera. But the orgy was over by the time I made it back.
Finally: if you were at Sex 2.0, don’t forget to take the survey! We need your feedback. There are only 18 responses so far but 166 of y’all were there… come on!
7-year retrospective
I should have posted this last Thursday, on the date of my actual 7th blog birthday, but this is close enough! Here’s a retrospective of where I was…
Seven years ago: About to graduate from college w/ my BA in linguistics. Married, living in a pretty cool townhouse in Athens (bigger than my mom’s house in square footage!) with an approx. 2 ft. x 8 ft. “yard” out back, where I’d planted some shrubs and flowers and made the place look generally nicer than the exterior of most college students’ dwellings. Total Mac geek obsessed w/ old obscure hardware.
Six years ago: About to wrap up the intense, life-changing, really wonderful experience that was the MIT Program (which includes giving a presentation at UPS headquarters in Atlanta), and graduate w/ a degree that people don’t understand: “Yes, the degree is actually called MIT. No, it’s not an MS in IT. It’s a Master of Internet Technology. That’s a real, separate degree.” And speaking of life-changing experiences, living for four months w/ the secret that my husband is trans – and wondering what the hell I’m going to do, while trying to hold things together on the surface for the benefit of people in my everyday interactions (only Jenny and Niki knew at this point). Applying for a job at a technology non-profit in Dallas, Texas.
Five years ago: Newly transplanted to Atlanta after seven months in Texas. I would hesitate to say going there was a mistake, because I learned a lot and I don’t think I would be the same otherwise. (Insert cheesy platitude about every experience shaping who you are… blah blah.) Ultimately it was a positive, because I learned what I didn’t want, and it made the things I did want come into much sharper focus. Working at The Job (also known occasionally herein as PHS, and in a few scant places, by its real name). Still married legally but separated in most senses of the word, though she was staying w/ me after moving from Athens until she found her own apartment in May. A therapist I was seeing at the time gave me crap about us sharing the same bed and “how that looks,” and I promptly fired her (the therapist). Blog archives for April 2004 are lost to the ether due to a hard drive failure. :P
Four years ago: Been in Atlanta and working at The Job for a little over a year. Hanging out w/ Brent, Ryan, and Sam at Houlihan’s several nights a week after work, then walking home in the almost-dusk light. Recently met some local bloggers IRL; I’m starting to make connections in this town. Officially divorced now, for seven months. This place feels like home (and I selfishly wish Jenny and Niki would move here). Reconnected w/ Dacia and Dipika thanks to blogging. Occasionally fucking a not-so-closeted Republican, but getting increasingly fed up w/ the situation; got my eye on a local political blogger who, by casual appearances, you might not think is my “type.” Trying to hatch a plan to get in his pants.
Three years ago: Rusty and I have been an item for almost a year (the plan worked!). Moved out of my first Atlanta apartment a month prior, even though I didn’t really want to; but they wouldn’t budge on raising the rent, and anyway, it had been taken over by a new, shitty management company. Moved to the Ice House Lofts, into an apartment at the other end of the hall from Rusty. :) We call it our halfway house to living together. Working at Large Media Organization, after departing The Job in October ‘05. My dad had a stroke a month earlier and things are kind of rough in that area. Official launch of Georgia Podcast Network is imminent.
Two years ago: Surprise – back at The Job! This time as a contractor, and it’s all for the best. Coming back was one of the best “career-related” decisions I’ve made, and I told my boss this time I’m never leaving. Total site redesign and launch of new platform complete, and I raked up major overtime bucks with which I dug myself slightly out of debt (finally paid off that car I bought seven years earlier!). Rusty and I have moved in together in an ill-fated apartment. PodCamp Atlanta has come and gone and I’m exhausted and swear I’ll never organize another conference – and yet, I dream up the idea of Sex 2.0 and decide to try to make it really happen. In honor of my 5th blog birthday I’ve moved my blog off my homegrown PHP/MySQL system and onto WordPress. Due to peer pressure and the inevitability of “anything I hate on, I will be a fanatic about in 6 months to a year,” I’ve started using Twitter. I graduate from level 3 pole dancing and get my purple garter.
One year ago: Sex 2.0 really happened OMFG!! And it was a huge success w/ a full week of post-orgasmic bliss! But this time, I’m standing firm on my promise to myself to never organize another conference. What else? Back to being a permanent full-time employee at The Job. Performed in the second PoleLaTeaz student showcase. Rusty and I are living together back in Decatur and have recently brought Puff and Stuff to live with us. We meet with a super cool financial planner and lay out a plan for getting out of debt, saving money, and eventually buying a house together.
There’s more – much more. There’s no way I can accurately condense seven years into a “highlight reel” of a post. But, I felt like I should put something up, just to reflect on how things change over the course of [x] number of years, and how keeping a record of your life – whether a blog, a personal journal, or any other medium – is, I believe, extremely valuable.
Maybe later I’ll go back and edit this post w/ hyperlinks to relevant posts about key events!
Update: Post has been updated w/ a million links!
Latest happenings and thoughts
I know I’ve alluded to it before, but lately I’m seriously wondering if I’ve reached my tipping point w/ social media. It’s true that I’ve been really busy in the past week, but come on, everybody’s busy, that’s not much of an explanation. Like I mentioned in a podcast a while back (would link but our site is down at the moment), I wonder if it’s finally gotten to the point where there’s just too much to keep up with. I haven’t been spending as much time on Twitter, and certainly not attempting to read everybody’s tweets. I haven’t checked Bloglines in days and have given up trying to read all my feeds – and I don’t even subscribe to an insane number of feeds, and certainly not the kind of blogs that post 20+ times a day! Then I end up reblogging shit on Tumblr and half the time I don’t know why, other than it’s a convenient way to help me wake up in the morning or unwind at night without using too many brain cells. I’ve been meaning to write Jenny and Niki an email for weeks now – and of course trying to find time to blog. It all seems so ridiculous, but more and more everything for me seems to be moving to quick little updates of 140 characters or less, no time to sit and write anything of substantial length.
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Fragments of longer blog posts, condensed
- Almost the whole office watched the inauguration yesterday, packed into the two conference rooms to watch it on the big screens. Right when Obama was taking the oath, the CNN.com live feed crapped out and, in something not unlike irony, we had to switch to the FoxNews.com live feed.
- Inspired, etc.? Yes, I am all that. I just hope people don’t continue w/ their deifying of Obama. It unnerves me.
- White male progressive-identified bloggers will fall all over themselves to call out the most obvious forms of racism. But sexism? Now don’t be silly. No need to call that out, we can look past it, there are more important things, it’s a “difference of opinion.” Don’t go being some histrionic feminist about it, they’re pro-choice, what more do you want??
- Back to inspiration for a moment so I can try to focus on positive stuff – Lia inspires me. Check out her new blog. She’s been posting some of her sermons, and they rock. Who would have thought I would be saying such things about a Baptist minister? Funny how life is sometimes. I enjoy being proven wrong in such things.
- And here’s a question Lia might be able to answer – what is the difference between pastor, preacher, and minister? Is it just semantics? Are they synonyms, or is there an actual difference? If there is, I want to know when to use each one, so I don’t sound ignorant!
- I’m trying chamomile tea in lieu of Ambien. It definitely makes me feel sleepy but last night I still had a hard time falling asleep – it probably took me 2 hours. Rusty thinks I have subconscious performance anxiety about it. He’s probably right; just wish I could get rid of that.
- Rusty and I have a gift registry at Target. I linked it in the sidebar. After we move into our house we’ll have a big housewarming party where we invite people we know from different places and it’s awkward for everyone.
- Aspasia is still on a roll. Her blog just freakin’ rocks.
- And finally, speaking of people who rock, read this post by Jill Brenneman at Bound, Not Gagged. Now.
ETA: Dammit! Left out one other link I was going to add. I am loving this post by Ginmar. (Yes, Ginmar! She and Ren recently laid down arms and acknowledged a common ground, which I find pretty darn cool.) She said I could quote from it extensively so here’s a big blockquote of truth-telling:
Here’s how a rape culture is constructed. A boy is born, and his dad hands him a football before the umbilical cord is cut and freaks out if anybody mistakes his kid for a girl. He teaches him how to be a ‘real man’ which means better than women, because to be a ‘pussy’ or a ‘fag’ is the worst thing in the world. The cartoons he watch features heroes and the stupid girls they rescue. The books he read feature boy heroes. The TV shows he watches are all about men, with women stuck cleaning house—just like Mom!—-or acting sexy and stupid. Sometimes he watches movies about how evil women are. He sees how his dad won’t do housework and leers at women, and hears how his dad’s friends joke about women, and ‘getting some’ and ‘gettng laid’ and winking and laughing at sexist jokes. When he gets to school, he’s surrounded by boys who have been taught the same lessons, and who teach him more. Girls ain’t shit. Girls are stupid, hos, trashy, slutty, easy, lying, worthless, whores, and the enemy. His coaches call his team ‘ladies’ and ‘pussies’ when they don’t perform well. He sees TV shows full of the same messages about women. Magazines are full of naked women. Everywhere he hears the message that women are sluts and it’s stupid for them to pretend otherwise. His friends talk about nailing women, getting a piece, and when they do have sex, they boast about it later and denigrate the girl. He learns lessons about getting girls drunk, working a yes out, and trains.
He never learns about the word ‘rape’ unless some dried up ugly bitch gives a talk about it in some assembly. He learns how to pinch and grope and fondle girls, and how teachers always yell at the girls for reacting or just ignore it. He learns how boys get to do what they want, because they’re boys, and girls have to obey the rules. Girls that resist are dykes, losers, queer, ugly, bitchy, need to get laid, and need to watch themselves.
His parents divorce, and his father calls his wife ‘that bitch’, and tells him never to get married. His dad says the gold digging bitch is trying to bleed him dry, but he was too smart for that. By the time he graduates from high school, he knows of at least one guy who’s put something in a girl’s drink, or forced a girl, or manipulated a girl, or threatened a girl. In college he learns how fraternities score with chicks, and how the key to success is knocking her out. Er, getting her drunk. He might study civil rights as a part of history—and maybe womens’ rights. Men are people. Women are…something else. He might respect other men, but women are just something to fuck. What do they need rights for? Why do they have to bitch so much? They’re only good for one thing.
And then we wonder why they sit there and watch a man set in motion his plans to rape a woman. He grows up learning how to rape but the only rape he knows is when a stranger jumps out of alley with a gun. He knows that women are stupid bitches who need to shut up already, and stop going to parties or wearing short skirts or drinking if they don’t want to ask for it, but what else are they good for? Fat chicks, ugly chicks, hairy-legged lesbos….those are worse than ordinary chicks.
If he doesn’t force women himself, he knows guys who have. He sympathizes, gets defensive, gets angry—at women. He makes excuses. He lines up with other guys at Take Back the Night and shouts slurs at the marchers. It’s a great joke. Bitches need to stop taking themselves too seriously.
Okay! Good night for real now.
ETA #2: Geeeez. :P I guess I had more stuff built up to post about than I’d thought! The latest GA Politics Podcast is up; listen here. Now, that’s it! If I think of anything else, I’ll do a separate post tomorrow. Or maybe get off my ass and right a full post about any of these half-formed fragments!
The famous dressing
Been meaning to blog this for over a month. I don’t feel like formatting it so I’m just going to dump it in here. This is the recipe for the famous Luis dressing, which was my dad’s recipe which he originally got from his friend Mike and adapted to make it his own. It is, hands-down, no contest, THE BEST dressing ever, and I will hear no protests to the contrary. And, as it goes w/ any devoted cook, this isn’t a hard and fast recipe with exact measurements. You really have to use your eyes and your judgment. This is the framework.
Celery (approx. 3 stalks) – cooked
Onion (approx. 3/4) – cooked
Whole wheat bread – 6-7 slices
French bread – 2 loaves – let sit out overnight to get harder
eggs – 2 or 3 (probably 2; if 3, consistency will be more like a cake; use 3 if making a bigger batch, too)
Craisins
1 red apple (peeled)
Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix (approx. 1/2 bag)
Butter (several small pieces) – cut a small slice off and then cut it into thirds both ways
Salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, celery salt, basil, oregano, pinch of sage – for all the spices (except the sage), use more than you think you’ll need
Paprika on top after spread in baking dish
Put all the ingredients in the biggest container you have, in the sink. Periodically add water from the faucet as you mush it all together with your hands. Initially you’ll think there’s no way everything will fit in your biggest container, but once you’re adding water and mushing it up, it will fit. Your hands will get stuff all over them; you can’t be shy about it. Don’t try to use a spoon or any other ridiculous thing, it won’t work.
Bake at 350 30-45 mins.
Fork needs to come out not gushy
Use two 2-qt. baking dishes for this standard amt.
In 2007, Rusty had his first opportunity to experience making the dressing. Here are some pictures:
My mom and I made it again this Thanksgiving as an homage to my dad. I’ve made it myself for years and will continue to do so. Adding Craisins was my idea, actually. They used to use regular raisins. And my aunt and uncle in upstate New York add almonds. It’s infinitely adaptable!
2008: Winding down
The end of 2008 is approaching and lots of bloggers are doing a bunch of end-of-year lists. I did one end-of-year questionnaire, but I feel like I should be doing more – making up lists of best this and worst that. I will be doing a list of the top 10 most commented posts of this year – actually right now the list is in the sidebar, because I was testing the plug-in, not to spoil the surprise or anything. And this year the post with the most comments had only 28 comments, as opposed to 2005 when I had a post that got 100 comments (and Jen won a free abortion). It seems like people don’t comment as much anymore, and I’ve heard a lot of people blame it on RSS. That’s one of the downsides of content on demand and it’s kind of ironic (is that real irony or Alanis irony?) that if blogs are supposed to be a big “conversation,” that RSS has the effect of decreasing the conversation.
I’ve been thinking about doing a post about why I don’t give Christmas presents, but so far I haven’t done it because I’m afraid of bunch of people will say I sound like an asshole. I know, I know, I’m supposed to focus on writing this blog for me and not let other people’s drama control what I say or don’t say. But I just don’t want to deal with a bunch of reactionary shit where people feel all wounded because they think it’s some kind of judgment on them. It’s a personal decision I made several years ago, not to engage in gift-giving out of obligation. I do occasionally give Christmas gifts to some people, some of the time; but if I do it’s because I want to, not because I feel obligated to. And I expect the people in my life to understand that my caring about them and appreciating them is not something that can or should be measured by a gift. Fortunately no one close to me has made a big stink about what it means if I gave them a gift one year but not another. It doesn’t mean anything beyond the fact that one year I saw something I thought you’d like and I got it; nothing more and nothing less.
I used to get so annoyed with the ex’s mom – she would ask for things for Christmas, from us. To me that was beyond rude. She knew we didn’t have any money. And besides, the idea of a parent asking for a present from their child just struck me as bizarre and wrong. My parents never asked or expected me to give them presents. Maybe more people’s families operate this way than I’m aware, but it really threw me for a loop. And one time she started acting all downtrodden because we didn’t give her enough gifts or something. I was fuming inside. Really? Do you really need to measure our love by how much useless crap we give you, especially when you KNOW we don’t have any money? I don’t get it.
I’m glad to be out of the cycle of obligatory gift-giving. I broke out of it as a personal decision and figured anyone who had a problem with it needed to rethink their priorities. I do still give one gift to my grandmother but that’s because she’s old and would get all worked up about it and I don’t want to do anything that would hurt her. I usually give her a gift card because she has too much crap in her house already and she can’t walk very well anymore so she can’t go in many stores and wouldn’t anyway, so in recent years (this one included) I’ve been getting Visa or American Express gift cards.
I’m not a Christian so me “celebrating” Christmas is really just because Christmas is the default winter holiday in the US if you’re not affiliated with another religion or holiday. But I do really enjoy the holiday season, and the end of the year, as a time for personal reflection and gathering with friends whenever possible. To me the holidays should be about taking stock of the things that are important in your life and showing your appreciation for friends. Obligatory presents can’t hold a candle to that.
So I guess I just effectively did a post about why I don’t give Christmas presents, under the guise of writing about how I’ve been waffling on whether to do a post about why I don’t give Christmas presents.
Back to end-of-year memes and such… we’ll be doing an end-of-year Mostly ITP episode Wednesday night. Call in with any year-end messages you might have and we’ll play them in the podcast. The voicemail number is 678-389-9441. And speaking of Mostly ITP, there are two new episodes up: an interview with Franklin Veaux about his computer game Onyx, and an interview with Jennifer Colter about Atlanta Steam. I think both went really well.
I know it sounds cliché, but it’s hard to believe 2008 is almost over. Earlier tonight I was tagging some of my older posts and so I was reading bits and pieces of posts from July 2003, when I was at training for Katapultz. Maybe at the time I didn’t come off as so unhappy to the people reading, and of course with hindsight it’s easy to attach meaning to things that I didn’t think of as canaries in the coal mine* at the time. I don’t know. But it just struck me how much happier I am now, here, with Rusty, in Atlanta. And that’s the kind of thing it’s important to take stock of as the year draws to a close.
* I cringed using this saying. Does anyone have an alternative? I don’t like any sayings that imply bad things happening to birds. It’s why I hate the term “kill two birds with one stone.” Instead I say “feed two birds from one feeder.”
Thankful
Here’s my obligatory Thanksgiving-related post. It’s just photos – but I’m putting them “below the cut” to spare your bandwidth!
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Halloween pics
Here are a few photos from last night…
Me as a candy corn witch:
Rusty as “the shocker:”
Us at Lisa’s party:
Hand-painted back of the “Caribou Barbie” box that the Sarah Palin look-alike had for herself. Also the winning costume of the party. This one is best viewed large, so click through to Flickr and click “All Sizes” above the photo.
Kitty litter cake, the winning entry in the “spooky snacks” contest (half eaten… wish I had gotten a photo before it had been cut into):
And, pole dancing, of course:
I wish I had thought to take photos at Jen’s party, too. There were some great costumes. In particular I liked “First Dude.”
I’m usually not that into Halloween, but last night was really fun!
Also – I am in the process of uploading the photos from my birthday shoot at the abandoned prison, and will post a few of them soon.
Lots of stuff
I have several posts on particular topics saved as drafts, but since I’ll probably never actually write them all, I decided I’ll just do one post addressing all or most of them. Besides, reading my archives (which I’ve been doing periodically over the past week or so, as I slowly go through and tag the old pre-WP entries and update old URLs) made me remember that that’s how I used to write my blog all the time, that’s what comes naturally to me, and that’s why and how I started blogging in the first place. So, back to basics!
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